Sports this 'n' that

Contrary to Thomas Wolfe, yes, you can go home again.

Jonathan Coachman left the WWE 10 years ago to work for ESPN, and was instrumental in the "Worldwide Leader in Sports" expanding coverage of WWE from periodic fluff pieces to feature reporting before leaving ESPN last year due to budget cuts. After appearing on Monday Night Raw's 25th anniversary show last week, the other shoe dropped when Coachman signed a new deal with WWE, and will rejoin the Raw broadcast team beginning with tonight's broadcast.

Coachman takes over for Booker Huffman, otherwise better known as Booker T, who moves back to being a panelist for pre-show programs. It also frees Huffman to make a run for mayor of his hometown of Houston, following the footsteps of fellow grappler-politician Glenn Jacobs (Kane), who will be up for election in March for mayor of Knox County, Tennessee. Huffman was supposed to be a temporary commentator on Raw while ex-wrestler and legal analyst David Otunga was filming a movie. Otunga has issues of his own with his ex, singer-actress Jennifer Hudson, so now he's free to focus 100% on that issue.
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The big news coming out of Sunday's Royal Rumble was not that the Japanese wrestlers swept the two Rumble matches (Shinsuke Nakamura for the men, Asuka for the women), but rather that former UFC champion and actress Ronda Rousey took time out from filming a movie in Columbia with Mark Wahlberg to fly back to the US, sign her contract, and make a surprise appearance at the end of the night.

Leave it to ESPN bloviator Stephen A. Smith, however, to throw cold water on it all. Unfortunately, Max Kellerman seems to agree with the notion that Rousey may be done with UFC. Scope this out from First Take:



Uh, guys, Brock Lesnar would like to have a word with you.

The current WWE Universal champ left WWE the first time in 2004, and signed with UFC after a failed tryout with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings. Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 after diverticulitis cut his MMA career short, save for one fight a couple of years ago in between WWE bookings. Lesnar's contract runs out in August, and the rumors are that he'd like to return to the octagon and make up for lost time there. That said, I don't think Rousey's days in MMA are done.
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While we don't know if Steve Spagnuolo will return to the Giants next season as part of Pat Shurmur's staff, he reflected back on his time as a defensive assistant with Philadelphia prior to Super Bowl XXXIX. Shock of shocks, he believes the New England Patriots, who will face the Eagles again in the big dance this year, may have taped some Eagles practices prior to the 2005 meeting. Just when we all thought it was safe, the past gets dredged up again at the worst possible time. Nothing like a reminder of Spygate to be the first thing on the bulletin board leading to the game.

Maybe Spagnuolo should get into the Witness Protection Program instead of returning to the Giants.....
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There's an old proverb that rings ever so true from time to time. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

In other words, La Loudmouth is at it again.

LaVar Ball has conned his way into being a head coach for at least one game for his sons' team in Lithuania, which doesn't speak well for the host country. That aside, Ball threw major shade at Golden State coach Steve Kerr, calling him the "Milli Vanilli of coaching". Oh, I don't know about that. All Kerr has done is win 2 NBA titles at the helm of the Warriors, and won a few as a player alongside a guy Ball thinks he's better than. Yeah, you know. Michael Jordan. If anyone is a phony as a coach, it's Ball, who wins another Weasel of the Week award.

The sad thing is, none of Ball's kids will ever understand how to truly play the game of basketball as long as their doddering dad continues to fill their minds with misinformation about his own career, and how he's living vicariously through them. If the Los Angeles Lakers don't make the playoffs, it won't be coach Luke Walton's fault nor that of Lonzo Ball. They just happen to be in a down period right now, as some teams are. La Loudmouth should spend the summer in a padded cell watching reruns of his idol, Fred Sanford, instead of misleading another AAU team to ruin.